August 27th 2008
John McCain Takes Out His Beef With Amtrak On The Environment
Filed under: not green, transport, travel — Michael Parrish DuDell @ 3:49 pm
A couple months ago, acting on secret Ecorazzi business, I attended a very exclusive green party here in New York City. The speaker of the evening basically told us that — without a doubt — the world is ending and our civilization is falling. Note to future speakers: world ending prophesies are a total buzz kill at parties, yo! We aren’t however without hope, he assured us. One thing that could make a solid impact on the environment is if we could revive our barely breathing rail system. I’ll tell you this: the speaker was NOT John McCain. See, Johnny Mac ain’t so fond of the old choo-choo business.
In Derrick Jackson’s recent piece in the Boston Globe, he points out that McCain has fought hard throughout his political career to essentially kill Amtrak anyway he can. It started first in 2000 when McCain was chairman of the Senate Science, Commerce and Transportation committee and cut $10 billion in capital funding for Amtrak. Flash forward to 2002 when McCain said that, “Amtrak should be restructured to eliminate its reliance on the American taxpayers and to allow for its privatization.”
When Bush’s fiscal 2006 budget did not include a subsidy for Amtrak and cut $250 million for railroad rehabilitation, McCain was quoted as saying, “I’m glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget.” And of course, on his website under “reforming our transportation sector,” he makes no mention of the evil railroad system.
Is McCain holding the country responsible for never getting that choo-choo train he asked Santa for as a child? Is Cindy afraid of conductor hats? I guess we’ll never know exactly why McCain thinks reviving the rail system is a dead issue, but like our current president (read: presiDON’T) it seems that McCain is already standing firm on his decisions…even if they’re the wrong ones.
Go check out the original article at the BostonGlobe.com.
Stuff global warming in your stocking! Dedicate trees this holiday season through 
people voted for bush and he became the worst president in the history of this country. our economy is in the toilet, we have a war that won’t end… things couldn’t be worse EXCEPT if John McLame gets elected. Please vote for ANYONE but McCain unless you want to continue the way we are with Bush
Keep in mind that while McCain is frustrated with Amtrak’s overreliance on government subsidy, that doesn’t mean that McCain is necessarily anti-rail. Some think that in the long run, the privatization of Amtrak would be better for passenger rail overall. So before you folks criticize him on this issue again, do your homework to realize that Mr. McCain has not blindly tried to kill the subsidy because he did not know what he was talking about. Check this out: S. 1958 [107th]: Rail Passenger Service Improvement Act…..http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s107-1958
As you can see, JOHN McCAIN sponsored this bill.
I’m very disappointed with the biased “GREEN” views toward politics.
Things aren’t as cut and dry as Implied here.
I think it is not fair the opinions being set forth on this site as truths as far as McCain AND Obama are concerned.
I’m very dissapointed with ecorazzi for not publishing my comment earlier on how John McCain isn’t necessarily a foe of passenger rail but rather an enemy of Amtrak. Again, I say that while John McCain is not a fried of Amtrak, that does not make him anti-passenger rail, just because he is frustrated with Amtrak’s overreliance on federal government subsidy. To show his support for the privatization of Amtrak:
S. 1958 [107th]: Rail Passenger Service Improvement Act…
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s107-1958
thank you robbie thats true
Hey Erin, first off you are an idiot. The reason our economy is how you say” In the Toilet” is because of 9/11. If you were not so busy jacking off you would know it was because of 9/11. George Bush, who I am not 100% in agreement with, isn’t the worst president in history but you are the worst in history. The Iraq War will end and if you were man enough maybe you would join the army. Our brave man and women in the army sacrifice their lives to your freedom and you are over here talking about them. My brother was in Irag and he knew it was the right thing to be over there. Most soldiers that you talk to would also agree that we are doing the right thing. While don’t you move out of your momma’s house, get a job, actually get a friend and shut your trap. And you can take that to the bank
What about them apples!!!!!!
IS Erin mad does he need to cry to his momma. Or does his diaper need changing.
The article was published in August, when the campaign was heating up. Senator McCain wants Amtrak privatized? That’s interesting. This week, GM, Ford and Chrysler are in Washington asking for government money (i.e. anti-privatization). Let’s hope the enemies of public rail service are equally strong about not subsidizing SUVs.
I drive a Smart Car and own a pedicab tourism business, using ‘cabs made at Main Street, in Broomfield, CO. Neither manufacturer is begging for your tax dollars. In fact, the saleslady told us, they don’t even need to advertize the Smart Car. They can’t keep enough of them in stock!